The present invention relates to a method and a device for optimizing operating parameters of an agricultural working machine.
Making adjustments to an agricultural working machine is a very complex task, due in part to the fact that a large number of machine components are involved, each of which has operating parameters that the operator must adjust. In the case of a combine harvester, these operating parameters are, e.g., the cylinder speed, blower speed, the sieve widths of the lower and upper sieves, the reel speed, ground speed, etc.
A large number of systems has been disclosed in the related art that support the operator of an agricultural working machine in his task of finding the optimum operating parameter settings. A system is made known, e.g., in DE 103 29 932 A1, which enables a rapid and, therefore, efficient procedure for optimizing operating parameters. According to this procedure, operating parameters that can be changed in a specific manner are compared, and a distinctive operator behavior is derived via a large number of agricultural working machines, thereby making it possible to access optimized operating parameter settings with consideration for special harvesting conditions, the optimized parameters settings having already been confirmed as the optimum operating parameter setting in a large number of actual cases and not just in one specific case. To make it possible for operators of other agricultural working machines to refer to this operator behavior, the determined operating parameters are stored, together with internal and external basic conditions, in relational data records and transmitted to a data base system, it then being possible to call up the distinctive operator behavior from a large number of agricultural working machines using an input and display unit.
A system of this type has the disadvantage, however, that it is very time-intensive and the operators' behavior depends on the experience of the particular operators of the agricultural working machines. The operators of the agricultural working machines are often not experts in the particular field, which means they usually do not have any specialized experience or even any experience at all. Incorrect machine settings and, therefore, poor working results, can therefore result, even when a certain type of operator behavior is distinctive.
To increase the quality of the optimization process, the operator can refer to his own experience, manufacturers' recommendations, preselectable standard settings installed when the agricultural working machine is first delivered, and to sensor-generated machine information. When it comes to changing a plurality of operating parameters, in particular, the operator's level of experience plays a decisive role in determining whether he assigns the effect which occurred to the correct operating parameter. In practice, a procedure of this type means the operator must try out a large number of machine settings before he has found what he assumes to be an optimum setting for the machine, with the number of attempts increasing the less experience a particular operator has. While optimizing the operating parameters, the operator must also process a large amount of additional information. Making matters even more difficult is the fact that the external harvesting conditions are different every time harvesting is performed.
An optimization method is made known in DE 103 06 726 A1, according to which adjustable operating parameters are optimized by applying a process algorithm stored in a data processing system, by way of which the optimization of the adjustable operating parameters is decoupled from the level of experience of the operator of the agricultural working machine to the greatest extent possible. A great deal of time is required, however, to work through individual operating parameter settings and find the optimum machine setting.